Hospitals.. I used to love visiting the hospital. I love the smell that destroys bacteria and germs, the squeaking floor that signifies visitors entry, the brightly coloured walls that cheer patients up, the plain bedsheets that speaks of simplicity, the vending machines of food and cold drinks...
It was until yesterday that I started to detest the hospital. For the same antiseptic smell that speaks of illness and pain, the same squeaking floor that indicate the entry of nurses, needles, the brightly coloured walls as the facade of unspoken loneliness and fear, the plain bedsheets that accentuates the boredom, and the vending machines with unfresh snacks...
I went to the very big playgrounds, the brightly coloured, full of interesting features playground that has been there for years, still as new. The children with kidney failures could only stare at the playground through the windows with large doeful eyes, longing to venture to the playground just like our wish to travel overseas. It was only few steps away. They stared longingly till they slipped into their dreams where they fufil their fantasy, swinging happily, laughing, sliding, their bodies full of energy.
I saw a child, roughly 2 years old, having a cast on his arm. The cast was so heavy that his left side was pulled down by the weight. His tear-stained face spoke of unspoken fear while his other arm hugged his father possessively.
I went to the adult ward, I saw the meals offered to patients and I nearly puked. I was just too polite to say so. Mutton fats in spicy chilli oil and french beans the hardness of a wooden pencil accompanying plain porridge. And even as night falls, no one is allowed to stay. "Hospital's policy," they said. What can be more cruel than to leave patients alone?
What is a life if we can't leave normally?
What is a life if we don't cherish our physical body?
What is a life when we are not given a chice to choose?
What is a life when we have no right over it?
What is a life if there are no more lives around us?
What is a life when we cannot understand what a life is?
Jacqueline
9:58 AM
